Judge David P. Bowles | Making decisions on bail

3:16 AM,
Apr. 28, 2013

David P. Bowles

Written by

Judge David P. Bowles
| Special to The Courier-Journal

Reporter Jason Riley had it right when he recently wrote that "arguments about low bail are nothing new in courthouses." There is a natural and historical tension between the presumption of innocence - one of the most basic tenets of our criminal justice system - and the need to protect our community from dangerous accused offenders.

Since 1976, Kentucky pretrial release practices have been developed and implemented by Kentucky Pretrial Services, the premier pretrial release system in the United States. Many of our sister states utilize commercial bail systems, which are susceptible to ...